![\"Layla](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1_Layla-Owens-pic-2jpeg.jpg\")
Layla was known as someone who could make friends with anyone across the world(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\nLayla Owens, 28, would ‘do anything for anybody’Layla was known as someone who could make friends with anyone across the world(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n
Tributes have been paid to a \u201ckind and caring\u201d woman who made \u201ceveryone\u2019s lives better\u201d. Layla Owens, a 28 year-old from Fazakerely<\/a>, died in January 2025.<\/p>\n Layla spent several years teaching languages at the Blackley Co-Op Academy in Manchester. Even after she left teaching, she would volunteer at a library in Manchester every weekend.<\/p>\n Layla had a wide variety of skills. She also worked in the prestigious Nord restaurant in Liverpool city centre<\/a> at a time when she was considering becoming a chef.<\/p>\n She also worked at a law firm in Manchester and spoke many different languages. During her life, Layla became known for her many acts of generosity.<\/p>\n Paying tribute to her daughter, her mum Anne Owens, 58, told the ECHO<\/a>: \u201dShe was a very bubbly and very energetic. She had a very inquiring mind, was always a joy to be around and was very caring. The overriding thing that people say about Layla is that she’d do anything for anybody. She was a really nice person.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would be walking through town and she’d stop at every homeless person and give them her money. She wasn’t materialistic at all. As stunning and pretty as Layla was, she was a very simple girl.<\/p>\n \u201cShe loved her role as a teacher. She didn’t know when to switch off. We would be constantly in B&M, buying stuff for the kids. She cared about them because she was a very young teacher herself.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some of her students, English wasn’t their first language, but of course, with her speaking the likes of Arabic and French, she broke down barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n Her sister Jessica Owens, 26, added: \u201cWherever Layla was, she had this vibe that lit up the room. She would make friends with anyone and everyone with people from all over the world.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the kids that they remember as she\u2019d put the music on in the class every morning and start dancing. On Paddy\u2019s Day she dressed up as a leprechaun. She loved traveling as well. She loved France and she lived there for a year. I think that was probably her happiest time for her.\u201d<\/p>\n Layla was not afraid to go against the crowd either. Anne said: \u201cShe was a mad Evertonian<\/a> and was a club member, even though we\u2019re all Reds. We\u2019d go to Goodison and she’d say “stand up for Z Cars”. She always wanted a Scouse pie at games.\u201d<\/p>\n Layla was diagnosed with bipolar one<\/a> when she was 21. The family feel this changed her as the years went by, although she remained a kind and caring person.<\/p>\n Jessica said: \u201cI think it took a big knock on her self-esteem. She wouldn\u2019t leave the house without make-up and wore black a lot – I think she did it to blend in.”<\/p>\n Anne added: \u201cShe put on a brave face would never bring the party down by looking glum or concerned for herself. It was never about Layla, it was always about others, so sometimes for me it was hard to gauge.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving bipolar one was really difficult for her. You can’t now talk about Layla and not talk about bipolar because it does stigmatise a person and a lot of doors were closed for her career wise.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen she left teaching in 2022, she went to work in a law firm in Manchester and they were very good and very flexible with her because the medication used to really have an effect on her.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they loved her as well. Every job that she worked in they would remember Layla. She would always bring something into the office like cakes or biscuits or make a display. She touched everybody’s lives and made them better, no matter where she worked.\u201d<\/p>\n Layla died in January 2025 after taking her own life. Her family were comforted somewhat during this time due to the support they received from everyone who knew Layla. A GoFundMe<\/a> to go towards the funeral costs raised over \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n The funeral was attended by many people including neighbours, members of the Muslim community she worked with in teaching as well as old colleagues. There were also people who attended recovery groups with her and members of the Jewish community, as Layla was in the process of converting to Judaism.<\/p>\n Jessica: \u201cMy friend who set it up was phoning me every day and saying, have you seen how much this is raising? Some guy put \u00a31,000 in.<\/p>\n \u201cI said to everybody, thank you so much for contributing to this amazing funeral that we just wouldn’t have been able to give her, you’ve made it so much easier for us.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, you’d be hard pushed to find somebody who didn’t like Layla. There was everyone in that funeral from all different walks of life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made it a celebration of life because she was a celebration. She wasn’t a self-pitying person at all. She just didn’t deserve the end that she had. I thought she’d go on to amazing things and she did want to, and she studied so hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Mental health support<\/p>\n Helplines and support groups<\/strong><\/p>\n The following are helplines and support networks for people to talk to, mostly listed on the NHS Choices website<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Layla](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Layla-Owens-pic-1jpeg.jpg\")
Layla Owens was described as someone who could ‘light up a room'(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n![\"Layla](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Layla-Owens-pic-3jpeg.jpg\")
Layla worked as a teacher for several years(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n\n